Smoke on the Water

[YakRunabout]

Last Wednesday Drifting Yak and I headed out for an afternoon/evening of fishing in a new area for us in west bay. The weather forecast was great – low 70’s, light winds, low humidity. The fish activity forecast was the opposite – low!! The afternoon tide was to be low and sit there a while and the higher-than-normal tides appear to have been blown away by the fronts coming through and were now back to prediction level or lower! So, it appeared going in that the focus of the day may be more on exploring a new area instead of catching fish.

Mike started off the catching part once into the bay with a handful+ of large sandtrout. A few of these were keeper size if they were specs. While this was going on I headed into the marsh to gauge the water depth question – found it to be already quite low, well before the low tide time. Since the winds were light and the bay waters calm we headed out into the bay toward some reef areas that we had seen on maps but not visited due to the trek involved. We started off into a light NW wind which gradually picked up, which, in turn, kicked up the waves, so the further we went, the stronger the winds and waves and more work was involved! Finally, the lure of the shallow water in the marsh overcame that of the bay reef and we changed direction. That reef will remain a destination for a future trip.

I, paddling on this day and so shallow-water friendly, headed off to explore the shallows. Mike, in his PA, eventually pulled the drive and paddled to a stake-out location adjacent to a bit of a redfish highway where he tried, in vain, to entice the passersby with a variety of offerings. During my wanderings I witnessed some things new to me, but which may be typical of this shallow water environment – I saw a redfish fully exposed on the bank as it chased its quarry, before flopping back into the water. I saw the backs of redfish well out of the water as they grubbed in the mud in 6” or less of water. None of these were interested in what I was casting, but I did manage to bring in an 18” spec from a channel.

We were hoping for the bite to pick up around sunset, but the only thing that did improve was the colors associated with the sunset. When we launched we noticed a large fire (a controlled burn for training purposed according the Chronicle) off to the west with a large smoke plume heading out into the gulf. Well, this plume of smoke stayed low and added to the sunset colors. The pictures from this were my best catch of the day!!

After sunset we hit the canal lights for a short time. I had a mess of sand trout and a small spec, while Mike landed a 20” red at his first light as well as a double hook-up on a tandem, bringing in 2 nice 17/18” specs. He also had the assorted mix of small sandtrout and specs.
All-in-all – a great day on the water. I am worn out with a bit over 10 miles of paddling, but well worth the workout!!
Enjoy your next outing!!

[karstopo]

Nice report. Being on the water at sunset has always been a treat for me. Sometimes, folks act like redfish are some kind of automatic garbage disposal and will gobble up anything thrown at them, but shallow backing reds can be a tough sell. That shallow cove and shoreline exploration is my fav...never know what might turn up.

[Drifting Yak]

Yep, the reds were finicky. Watched them buzz by for an hour or more and could not get them to bite. Fun but man is it frustrating. In any case and as Ken said, it was a beautiful day on the water.

Here's a few that were brought home (you know you have to have pictures of fish!).

[PerryB]

Sounds like a good trip.
Nice Pics!

[Dandydon]

Terrific fishing report & photos! Thanks for sharing.


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[shoffer]

Very nice, Yakrunabout. Nice photos. You know me - I love the night fishing as well. Nothing better than a night/sunrise or a sunset/night combo trip.